


On Family

by engagemythrusters



Series: On Happiness [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: COE Fix-it, Deaf Character, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, deaf Ianto Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26091403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/engagemythrusters/pseuds/engagemythrusters
Summary: Jack Harkness found himself in a situation he'd never dream of being in, and now he wanted to keep it that way.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: On Happiness [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1733248
Comments: 11
Kudos: 91





	On Family

**Author's Note:**

> I did say I wouldn't ever truly be done with this series...  
> Important note: British Sign Language is another language, and therefore does not follow the same structure as English. However, I have not studied the syntax of BSL, nor would it read very easily to those of you who don't know it, so I've done the standard italicisation.

Jack took a sniff of the contents in the bowl. Not... _terrible,_ he supposed. He dabbed a finger in it, then licked it off with his tongue. He made a face and tried not to gag. 

"I don't know why they think babies would want to eat this," he said. "If it's going to make _me_ vomit, then nobody should be eating it."

He took another taste, pulling another wry face.

"At least it isn't as bad as just the pea stuff," he said with a sigh. "Whadya think, Nells? Ready to taste it?"

Nelle was too busy gnawing on her hand to answer. 

"Don't eat that," he told her, pulling it from her mouth. At her concerned shriek, he added: "I've got real food for you! Well. Sort of real. I think."

He set the bowl down on her tray. 

"You eat carrot and pea mash," he told her, signing it, too. "It's disgusting. But you're going to eat it anyway."

He signed "eat" to her a few times more before picking up the baby spoon from the bowl. He dug up a tiny scoop of the disgustingly brown mash out of the bowl, then presented it to Nelle. She didn't know what to do with it, so he shrugged and shoved it into her mouth. She bit the spoon. 

"I know your teeth are coming in," he said as he wrenched the spoon from her mouth, "but you don't have to bite so hard."

He gently scraped up the mash from her lips that didn't make it into her mouth with the spoon and put that into her mouth, too. 

"So," he said, putting the spoon down to sign his words. "What do you think? Taste good? Bad?"

She only yelled for more mash.

"You like it better than just pea, then," he said. "Better than just pea? Yes?"

She didn't even watch his signs, continuing to shriek for her food. He picked up the spoon to feed her more.

"You are very impatient," he said. "Just like your dad." He pulled back the spoon and gave her a frown. "Don't tell him I said that. He'll get cross."

He fed her a few more bites of mash, and she continued to chomp down on the spoon each time. 

_"Stop biting!"_ he signed.

She did not stop biting.

"God, once you start walking, it's all over for us," he said at one point. He set the spoon down again to sign. "You know, Rhiannon says she could get your dad to sign for his food, but I doubt we'll get you to do that. You're just going to--"

She screamed. 

"Scream," he finished. He sighed and picked up the spoon.

The final problem that came with feeding Nelle soft foods was that she had the tendency to fling it everywhere. _Everywhere_. She'd smack it onto her tray, then continue to smack away at it until it went flying through the air. Jack found some pea mash crusted into Ianto's hair the other day. Right now, Jack was pretty certain there was something in his eyebrow, but he dared not remove it. If he did, that would only tempt fate; the universe would punish him by throwing gobs of carrot-pea mixture into his ear, or some other equally unsavoury place.

"Stop," he would tell her, though she never listened whether it was voiced or signed. 

The creak of a door resounded through the otherwise quiet house. 

"No," Jack said, setting the bowl down on the table, far from Nelle's reach, "no, no, no."

He quickly gave her a gentle peck on the top of her head before he hastened from the dining room to the hall, stopping short and folding his arms as he saw Ianto leaning with one shoulder against the wall. 

_"You need to be in bed,"_ Jack signed.

Ianto glared at him and took a few steps forward, still leaning heavily on the wall. Jack stopped him with a hand before he could brush past, and he glared harder.

 _"I'm not staying in bed,"_ he told Jack, signing carefully to not agitate his wound. _"I'm getting up. You can't stop me."_

He made to push past Jack again, but Jack stopped him a second time. If Ianto was going to insist upon staying up (and he would; there would be no dissuading him), then it was best that Jack helped him before he hurt himself more. Jack put one of Ianto's arms over his shoulder, then looped one of his own arms very carefully around Ianto's waist. He held Ianto up as they slowly walked to the kitchen, where Jack deposited Ianto in his vacated chair, in front of a fussy Nelle.

 _"Dad is very stupid,"_ Jack informed Nelle. _"He doesn't listen to people, even when he needs to."_

Ianto rolled his eyes and picked up the forgotten brown mash. 

_"Sweet potato?"_ Ianto asked. 

_"No."_ If Jack ever saw any orange mashed food ever again, he would probably vomit until the acid burned a hole in his throat. He'd done that once, up on the Valiant. It was towards the end, where even the thought of cold mashed swede made his stomach churn, much like it was doing now. _"That's carrot and pea."_

Ianto lifted the bowl to his nose and sniffed. His face contorted into a grimace. 

_"Why do we feed her this?"_ he asked. _"This is disgusting."_

 _"It's good for her. Healthy."_

Ianto sat forward to begin feeding her, then winced, a small grunt of pain mingling with Nelle's cries for food. Jack held a hand out, ready to catch Ianto if the strain of sitting forward became too much, but Ianto glared him off. Jack held up his hands in surrender and stepped back, and Ianto returned to their daughter.

 _“Carrot and pea,”_ Ianto signed to her.

She opened her mouth expectantly. Jack noticed the two pearly little nubs of her bottom teeth before Ianto fed her a bite of mash.

 _“Teeth,”_ Jack informed Ianto.

 _“I know,”_ Ianto signed before he spooned up more mash.

Nelle, displeased with this delay, let out a particularly loud shriek that made Jack wince.

 _“Myfanwy was quieter than her,”_ Jack signed when Ianto sent him a curious glance.

Ianto rolled his eyes and went back to feeding their demanding child. Jack was filled with a sudden nostalgia for their lost winged guard dog. He still hoped she made it out of the old Hub in time and was safe from the blast, living out in… well, Ianto always said she was likely out in Bangor, but Jack was certain Ianto had no proof of that. (And why Bangor, of all places? Jack could never figure that out.)

Jack pulled up a chair beside Ianto’s and watched him feed Nelle, making sure Ianto wasn’t overtaxing himself. Two days wasn’t nearly enough to heal a bullet wound.

When Ianto started grimacing with every movement, Jack decided they were done for the time being. Nelle was wearing more food than she was eating at that point, so she didn’t put up any fuss when Jack pulled the baby spoon from Ianto’s hand and set the bowl on the table.

 _“Are you okay?”_ Jack asked Ianto.

Ianto shrugged, but Jack could see the hints of pain behind those piercing blue eyes of his.

 _“Let me see,”_ Jack signed.

When Ianto didn’t protest, Jack lifted up Ianto’s shirt and looked at the gauze. A faint tinge of maroon stained the outside. Jack sighed and lowered the shirt.

_“Bleeding again.”_

_“I thought so,”_ Ianto signed with a nod.

Jack sent him an incredulous look, furious that Ianto had suspected this and hadn’t said a thing, but Ianto ignored it. He closed his eyes and sank back into his chair. Jack tapped his arm twice, and he blinked an eye open.

 _“Martha said to call her if it happened again,”_ Jack reminded him.

Ianto screwed his eyes shut again, though Jack wasn’t sure if it was out of annoyance or pain. On the off chance it was the latter, he stood and fetched a mobile.

“Hey,” Martha said the instant she picked up. “How is he?”

“He’s bleeding again,” Jack said.

“He’s been up, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Jack said, shooting a glare over to Ianto. Ianto, who was watching him from under half-lidded eyes, frowned back in return. “What should I do?”

Martha hummed to herself, evidently thinking on the matter. “Well… I’ve just finished up that report you’d ordered, so I could come and check it out myself, I suppose.”

“You just want to snoop around the new house.”

“No,” Martha said defensively. “I’ve done that already.”

Jack snorted.

“Give me twenty minutes, okay?” Martha said.

“See you then.”

He hung up just as Ianto gave another pained noise when he sat upright once more. Jack snapped back to his side immediately, helping him up.

 _“You need to lie down,”_ Jack signed.

Ianto geared himself up to protest, raising his hands to sign something defensively, but then his face twisted in pain once more.

 _“Now,”_ Jack told him.

For a second, Ianto didn’t acknowledge him. Then, slowly, he nodded and reached a hand out to Jack. Jack helped him up, carefully and steadily, then aided him over to the sitting room. Ianto’s breath came out in tiny pants by the time Jack sat him down on the sofa, and he looked slightly dazed from the pain. Jack took his hands off Ianto quickly to ask, _“Can you lie down?”_ and then returned them when Ianto gave a short nod.

Once Ianto was lying flat, Jack returned to Nelle to clean her up and get her out of her chair.

“Oh, you’re a mess,” he said upon laying eyes on her.

Since he’d left, she’d managed to smear the remnants of her mash all over her face and tray. She burbled a happy note up at Jack. He couldn’t help but smile back down at her, despite the mess he dreaded to clean. He found a clear spot on her forehead and plopped a kiss there.

He pulled Nelle from her chair once she was clean, suddenly struck by the feeling of how _odd_ this was. How bizarre and strange his life had become. Not once had he ever thought he’d be living in a house with his child and partner, living in seemingly utter domestic bliss. The closest he had gotten to this was with Lucia and Melissa—but Lucia had fled with the newly-dubbed Alice, and Jack never had the chance again. Until now. Which was partly why it was so bizarre. The other part was because… well… he was _happy_.

And wasn’t that just a novel thing?

Though right now, Jack couldn’t say he was completely happy. Almost, but not quite. His partner (god, what to even call Ianto? Jack couldn’t think of a single word that would describe exactly just what Ianto meant to him), had been shot in the stomach and barely made it through. He was happy because Ianto _had_ made it through, but not happy because Ianto was in pain. And because this was likely to happen again.

Jack returned to Ianto in the sitting room. Ianto lay stretched out on the sofa, his eyes closed lightly and his hands resting gently on his abdomen, circling the area of the wound. Jack spotted a fleck of carrot-pea mash stuck to his cheek, and moved Nelle to a hip to dab the spot off. Ianto opened his eyes, brows furrowing minutely.

 _“Food,”_ Jack signed.

Then he sat down on the floor by the sofa, setting Nelle upright in his lap. Ianto turned his head, watching them. Then he removed a hand from his stomach and brushed his thumb over Jack’s eyebrows. He drew his hand back and grimaced in disgust, then wiped the remnants on the sofa. Jack frowned, but Ianto didn’t notice. He was looking down at Nelle, holding that same hand out to her. She babbled a few things, reaching out with her own tiny chubby hands to grab Ianto’s thumb. She cackled to herself when she grabbed it, then attempted to shove it in her mouth. Ianto didn’t mind, staring down at her with a softness hidden in his eyes. Jack smiled to himself.

Jack watched Nelle and Ianto interact, clinging onto these moments of peace before reality had to strike. 

He almost lost this. He’d come very close to losing his one shot at happiness, and the knowledge of that twisted around in his brain, weaving through every other thought and constricting until it was the only thing that remained.

When Nelle stopped gnawing on Ianto’s thumb to gnaw on some of her colourful teething links, Jack caught Ianto’s attention. The small smile on Ianto’s lips faded, puzzlement replacing the contentment.

 _“You can’t work in the field,”_ Jack told him.

Jack could practically feel the whiplash from Ianto’s instantly shifting expression. The thunderous look likely would’ve shaken anyone who hadn’t known Ianto for as long or as well as Jack did.

_“It’s too dangerous.”_

_“I know,”_ Ianto signed before he could continue. _“I know! I worked for Torchwood for over five years. I know it’s dangerous. I’m not afraid.”_

 _“I’m not talking about being afraid!”_ Jack floundered for his next point, then settled on Nelle. _“We have a daughter now.”_

_“I know that, too!”_

_“We can’t put you in danger,”_ Jack signed. _“She needs you.”_

 _“She has you,”_ Ianto pointed out.

 _“She needs you,_ ” Jack repeated, placing more emphasis on the “you” this time. Then he paused and added, _“I need you.”_

Ianto blinked.

 _“I need you because she needs you,”_ Jack went on. _“She needs both of us.”_

Ianto glanced away for a moment, but Jack quickly recaptured his attention.

 _“And I need you because… I need you,”_ Jack signed. He took a deep breath to himself, then continued on. _“I live forever. You don’t. I only have you now, and I’m scared to lose you faster than I should.”_

 _“You won’t,”_ Ianto signed.

 _“I could,”_ Jack replied. _“And I won’t allow that to happen.”_

He leant forward and kissed Ianto, gently and slowly, taking his time both to show Ianto just exactly what he meant to Jack—just how much the world would be taking from him if Ianto shuffled off this mortal coil even a second before it was necessary—and to live, for once in his long life, in a good and important moment. Jack then pressed a quick peck to Ianto’s forehead after.

 _“What would I do instead?”_ Ianto asked.

He didn’t seem keen on the idea still, but Jack would have some time to talk sense into him. And, if push came to shove, Jack could just order him out of the field. Jack was sure it wouldn’t come to that, though.

 _“Archive,”_ Jack suggested.

It was the one thing Jack knew Ianto wouldn’t object to doing full time. Since Ianto didn’t protest, Jack figured it was a good sign. Granted, he didn’t look pleased, either, but at the very least he wasn’t enraged.

They still had yet to install the doorbell lights, so when the doorbell rang, Jack informed Ianto, then hoisted Nelle up again and took her with him to greet Martha.

“Oh, hello,” Martha cooed to Nelle the moment she stepped inside. “Don’t you look lovely in blue today!”

She reached out for Nelle and Jack surrendered the baby over.

“How is he?” Martha asked, bouncing Nelle up and down a bit.

“He didn’t say, but I think he’s in pain again.”

“When’d he take his last—”

“Three hours ago,” Jack interrupted. “Just like you said.”

“Alright, alright,” she said placatingly. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, okay? I just want to check him over.”

She gave Nelle a final grin and a bounce, then passed her back to Jack. She picked her medical kit back up from where she’d left it at the door and stepped past Jack, already finding her way to the sitting room.

Nelle dropped her teething link on the ground as Jack followed Martha back to the room.

“Gravity still exists when you’re up high,” Jack told her, stooping to pick up the plastic ring.

Nelle made a soft “hoo” noise in reply, wrapping her chubby little fingers around the link again as he presented it to her.

Martha and Ianto were already discussing his injury when Jack and Nelle returned to the room. Martha had lifted Ianto’s shirt and untaped the gauze, peering and poking around the injury when she wasn’t watching or responding to Ianto’s signs.

Jack stood by the edge of the sofa, holding onto Nelle and observing Martha’s administrations. Nelle dropped her link onto Ianto’s head three times and was well on her way to figuring out what a _fun_ game it was, to make her fathers pick up her rings for her! However, Martha finished off her examination faster than Jack had anticipated, and saved Ianto from a headache and a forehead full of baby spit.

 _“Stay in bed,”_ she ordered Ianto. Then she rounded on Jack. _“Keep him in bed.”_

Ianto sighed in annoyance and Jack nodded, so she chucked Nelle under the chin and departed with promise to see Jack tomorrow at work (and a threat _not_ to see Ianto there).

When she’d gone, Jack sat himself back down by Ianto and held Nelle in a standing position by the sofa. Ianto stroked a hand carefully down her thin hair, admiring her in the same way he had been since she was born.

Jack smiled once more to himself, glad he had the chance to keep his own private happiness for a while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still planning on writing more, so please stay tuned to this series!  
> (And, while I'd dredged this up half-written from my drafts, this also works for the Torchwood Fan Fest bingo: prompts being immortality, bullet wounds, and domesticity.)  
> Unedited as all fuck.  
> Thank you for reading! Have a lovely day!


End file.
